


Working Together

by Viridian5



Series: Working Together [1]
Category: Once a Thief (TV)
Genre: Character of Color, Humor, Multi
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 1998-12-30
Updated: 1998-12-30
Packaged: 2017-10-02 07:26:01
Rating: Explicit
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,838
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/3995
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Viridian5/pseuds/Viridian5
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Mac and Victor have to find a way to get along.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Working Together

**Author's Note:**

> Spoilers for _Once a Thief_ (Director's Cut), "Drive, She Said," "True Blue," and almost any episode including treacherous blonde bimbos.
> 
> Inspired by an _OaT_ mini-marathon and discussion with Te and Dawn Sharon. Advice and beta by the great, wonderful, and ever-patient Alicia.

"I don't care what you boys do on your own time, but your bickering on the job is ruining the efficiency of the team. It has to stop," the Director said.

"It's his fault," Mac answered.

"Oh, please," Victor said, while Li Ann just looked martyred.

"It doesn't matter whose fault it is. Since the two of you haven't worked it out on your own after the last warnings, I've decided to force the issue. You will be locked in a room together until you figure out a way to work together."

"We tried that once, and it destroyed my apartment," Mac said, somewhat resentfully.

"Yes, but this time it will be different. Dobrinsky won't be there, and you'll be in an apartment so spare you'll be forced to deal with one another."

"'Two man enter, one man leaves'? Sounds good to me," Vic said.

"Your lives are mine; neither of you die until I say so. I don't care if you learn to like one another, but I won't tolerate your personal problems getting in the way of the assignments I give you."

"Li Ann's part of the team. Shouldn't she be with us?" Mac asked.

"Li Ann isn't part of the problem. She works well with the both of you, and she's smart enough to be able to quickly manipulate you into doing what she wants."

"And we're not smart?" The Director merely looked at him, and Mac sat back. "But I'm sure we have cases to do--"

"In one hour you'll report to the address I give you. If you don't get there on your own, I'll send people to bring you. You'll stay in that room until I feel you've learned your lesson."

******************************************************

Victor paced the room. The Director hadn't been exaggerating about it being spare. It had a couch, two cots, and a tiny bathroom. He guessed that meals would come through the slot in the door if the Director decided to feed them.

Another prison, and once again unwarranted. He'd sworn never again... //I can't stay in here.//

He wanted to work; he needed to work. He had to get the hell out of here. And there was Mac sitting in lotus position on the couch, long body folded, meditating his way through the time and not even thinking about a means of satisfying the Director enough to get them free.

No way in hell that could be allowed to continue. Vic threw himself down on the couch next to his partner and smiled at the expression of irritation that briefly crossed Mac's face. "If I'm going to be bored so are you. We have to figure a way out."

"You figure it out. It's your fault we're here."

"That's typical."

Mac opened his eyes to glare. "Oh, really?"

"You blame everyone else. You don't take responsibility for anything."

"I don't take responsibility for things I had nothing to do with. For instance, everything would have been fine if you hadn't put the moves on Li Ann. We probably wouldn't even be partners right now."

Vic laughed, and Mac had to throttle down the urge to hit him. As much fun as hitting him was, it never made him shut up. //There must some way... I'll figure it out someday. And I'll figure out some other things, too. Like how he manages to talk--well, mumble, really, in that soft, husky voice--without moving his lips. He's like a bad ventriloquist's act. Now he has that snarky eyebrow thing going too, which makes it even harder for me to keep my hands off him, the bastard...//

"She thought you were dead and moved on, though it probably didn't take much effort. If you want to talk about fault, we would have been married by now if you'd had the decency to die like you should have."

"That is so cold. I'm wounded." Mac moved closer until he was in Victor's face. Knowing how much Vic always fought against being touched by him, he put his hand on a very solid shoulder. "I'm alive, and I'm here, so live with it."

"I hate you. You're arrogant, untrustworthy, obnoxious--"

Mac stopped the words with a bruising, greedy kiss. //Hey, _that_ works!// Those lips might not move much, but they were so soft... One of his hands went to the small of Victor's back while the other stroked the peach fuzz at the nape of that strong neck. The older man shuddered and briefly moved closer, seeming almost to surrender, but then jerked to his feet, shoving Mac backward.

"What the fuck was that?" Vic asked, bristling. Thick, sable lashes rose and fell over wide green eyes.

//He's pissed, yeah, but there's something else there too, isn't there?// Mac licked his lips. "I figure that Li Ann going from me to you must have been like settling for hamburger after having fillet mignon. I wanted to see if you were any good." He stretched sensuously. "You give it up so sweetly."

"It's a good thing you think so highly of yourself. I guess someone has to."

"C'mon, Vic. I'm bored; you're bored. We have nothing to do but each other. Maybe the Director will settle for that and let us out." Mac took a long, appreciative look at Victor, //He does wear leather well//, just to freak him out before asking, "What's the matter, are you scared?"

Victor snorted. "If I don't let you paw me, I'm a chicken? That might have worked... when I was five. Can't you be original in anything?" //He has such a big mouth. Maybe I can fit my fist inside... Nice lips though. What else could I fit inside there?// He only let his mind stray to more interesting and obscene possibilities for a moment before reining himself back in. //Idiot. This is _Mac Ramsey_, remember? He's only doing this because he knows it ticks me off.//

"Do you want to get out of here or not?"

"What do you think?"

Mac moved in closer. "It'll be a change from the treacherous blonde bimbos you have as your usual diet."

"You're one to talk."

"Then it'll be a change for me too."

That admission seemed to surprise Victor, made him glance down in thought, and Mac suddenly remembered that time they'd worked together to get the Rembrandt out of Michael's office... Mac suddenly flashed on the way Vic had looked right after their little trapeze act in Michael's office. Rubbing against Victor's crotch had been great //Too bad we were wearing so many clothes//, but it had been the ex-cop's look after their aerial act that stuck in his mind. It hadn't struck him much at the time, but later... Mansfield had ducked his head, looking down almost bashfully, while his half-closed eyes had gleamed and a small smile had lingered at one corner of his mouth. He'd softly said that he guessed he could trust Mac after all. He had looked exhilarated and happy, which Mac had first attributed to their successful grab for the painting. //Not to mention the extra zing of being _this_ close to getting fried. Always rings _my_ bells, that's for sure.//

Over time, though, Mac had realized that Victor's happiness had been at the fact that Mac hadn't let him down, hadn't stranded him there on the wire. //Then I decked him and left him for Michael to find.

//He's dying to find someone who deserves his trust. That's not me, but... I want to see that look again.//

Victor watched Mac's lips purse and his usually avid eyes soften. //I think he's thinking. No wonder I don't see that look very often.// He didn't appear quite so arrogant and obnoxious this way.

This time when Mac brought Victor closer, he didn't pull away, too curious to see where this would go. Long, clever fingers stroked down the seam of his jeans, down the crack of his ass. Then Mac pressed his hips forward, and Vic bit down on a groan as he felt the other man's erection brushing against his own. //I can't possibly want him.// Mac kept watching his face, which made him crazy, so he looked away.

Victor tried to fight back by running his hands down Mac's khaki-clad ass and saying, "I forgot. You don't have an ass."

"Where did that come from? Early senility must be rotting your brain."

Victor grabbed Mac by his vest and pinned him against the wall. It was getting harder to think, especially with the whipcord body writhing against him. "We're being manipulated into this. I hate that."

Mac pushed back, and in a moment they were further down the wall with Vic's back to it. He kissed one of those enticingly mobile eyebrows. "Mmm-hmm. But we can't do anything about it." His lips teased the warm metal of Vic's gold earring, and his breath heated the delicate curve of the ear.

"That's why we can't do this," Victor gasped.

"Yeah, but then we're _not_ doing this just because the Director wants us to do it. Why give her that much power over our lives?"

//I'm obviously thinking with the wrong head now. That made sense.// "Mac, we--" Victor pushed at the younger man, struggling for dominance, but somehow lost his train of thought as they rolled along the wall, first one pinned and then the other.

He didn't know how they'd reached the tiny bathroom, when Mac had lost the vest, when they'd gotten unzipped, or how they'd both ripped so many buttons off their shirts. He was so hard he ached, and Mac didn't look like he was any more comfortable.

Victor looked dazed and utterly fuckable. Mac wasn't about to waste the opportunity. He pinned the older man to the wall and began kissing a trail down his chest, tearing the few remaining buttons loose as necessary. When Vic tried to push him away, he retaliated by grabbing and stroking the cock that, independent of its owner's better judgment, pressed, hard and more than ready, against him.

"Careful with that!" Victor panted.

While Mac knew he couldn't match Victor's natural bedroom voice, Mac felt he sounded more than sultry enough as he panted, "After you almost snapped my spine? Don't worry, I know what I'm doing."

"Sorry, I'm sure you handle yourself often enough to have some expertise."

"Oh, and I guess you've never touched yourself? That might explain a lot, actually..."

While Victor glared, speechless with annoyance, Mac smirked and said, "Let me show you how."

Mac pumped Victor's cock and grinned as his partner whimpered. The face that leaned so close to his own had softened a little in pleasure. He began to wonder if he could come just from having Victor convulse against him, but then, to his surprise, Vic's hand closed around him.

"Like this?" Victor asked innocently as he stroked and teased with a skill that surprised Mac.

"You're a quick study," Mac managed, before the friction robbed him of coherency. Their rhythms quickly meshed, and it wasn't long before Mac came, muffling his cry by nipping at Vic's neck. The bite, combined with everything else, seemed to send an electric charge down Victor's spine and out through his cock. He actually blacked out for a moment.

Victor wasn't really sure how he'd stayed on his feet, especially with Mac draped over him, but for the sake of his pride, he was glad he had. "I still hate you," he said, but his voice sounded much softer and smokier than he'd intended, lessening the sting.

"But we have just proved we can work together." Mac smiled at the look on his partner's face. It wasn't quite the "I guess I can trust you" expression, not with the startlement mixed in, but for exhilaration and pleasure, it was pretty damned good.

"Oh, thank you _so_ much for reminding me that I'll undoubtedly get to watch this on video next time the Director wants to humiliate me." They looked out the door to the exit, both half-expecting to hear the locks being undone. It didn't happen. "I'm sure she saw everything. Why the hell isn't she done with us yet?"

"Well, she doesn't get a show like this every day."

"You sure?"

Mac smirked widely. "Maybe she wants to make sure we can keep it up--" He laughed when Vic smacked him. "She wants to make sure this cooperation wasn't a one-time thing. We have to show her, Vic, and keep showing her until she lets us out of here."

"Oh, you're really subtle, Mac."

He stopped Victor from moving away by nibbling at one slightly pointed ear. "I know you liked it. I can feel you liking it again." Mac slid down the older man's body, petting and nibbling, until he rested on his knees. "I'm going to ruin you for other people."

"You can try. I do like seeing you on your knees, though."

"Appearances can be deceiving." Mac looked up at Vic with his most evil leer. "By the time I'm done, you'll be under my complete control."

Victor laughed. "That's not even worth answering. At least even you can't talk with your mouth full."

"Now who has a high opinion of himself? That sounds like a challenge..."

******************************************************

Li Ann sighed and took another sip of her champagne. "I should know better than to bet with you."

"You should, but it's not as much fun that way," the Director answered.

"You were off by only one minute. You didn't... _manipulate_ them somehow, did you?"

"I don't have to. You may have slept with them in the past, but I know them, better than they know themselves. Truffle?"

"Please." Li Ann daintily took the chocolate from the Director's fingers with her teeth, then licked the lingering fingertips. "How long will you keep them in there?"

"Until they exhaust themselves and sleep it off. Don't worry, you'll have plenty of other opportunities to make some money off me."

"You can't be right on everything."

"Would you like to make a bet on that?"

"I'm not that stupid."

The Director smiled in acknowledgement. "Have you ever thought of a threesome with them?"

"Of course, but then I thought of all the bickering and posturing I'd have to put up with, and it became much less attractive." Li Ann cast a long look at the woman sharing the bed with her. "You have plans."

"I have a certain genius for problem-solving."

"Maybe if I tied and gagged them... but no, then I'd have to do all the work."

The Director clinked champagne glasses with her. "Between the two of us, I'm sure we'll think of a solution."

******************************************************

Trademark smirk well in evidence, Mac leaned back in his chair and tried to look innocent for the Director and hotter than hell for Victor, all at the same time. Vic was studiously ignoring him, wearing his blankest professional face, but small smiles kept slipping out to spoil the effect. Li Ann couldn't decide whether she wanted to laugh or bash their heads together.

"You let us out, so you must have decided that we can put aside our differences to work together," Mac said.

"Actually, I saw that the first time. I kept you in there through the next six for my own entertainment," the Director replied. Mac beamed while--or because--Victor squirmed. "So, what did you learn that could be useful on assignment?"

Mac's smile combined malice and ass-kissing. "Well, first, Vic has incredible physical control. You wouldn't believe how long he can hold a single position." As Victor winced, Mac asked, "Is that the sort of thing you're looking for?"

"That's a good start. Anything else?"

"He also has this cute, sexy little belly. If we can get him over his modesty, I'm thinking he could flash it at critical times to get our opponents so distracted with lust that we could--"

"That's it, Ramsey!" Vic moved without warning and had Mac in a chokehold before he could react. Li Ann studiously avoided getting involved.

"Is this any way to treat the one you love?" Mac gasped.

"Boys," the Director purred dangerously. They went still. "Victor, you do realize that Mac is getting off on this."

Victor pulled away. "He would." But his hand lingered on Mac's shoulder.

"I think Vic needs to be punished. Badly," Mac said, straightening his shirt. "I'm willing to do it for you..."

"Oh, you both do. Though I'm actually pleased by this show of killer spirit. It should be helpful on your next assignment." She slid folders across the desk at them. "You'll be going undercover at a club as a team of mud wrestlers. Li Ann will be your owner and manager. There's the information, you can read up--and your uniforms are in the folders too," she drawled, smiling as Victor pulled a strip of spandex out of the file with a look of unconcealed horror. "I'm so looking forward to this new camaraderie, aren't you, Li Ann?"

### End


End file.
